Double Dipping in Joliet
May 1, 2018
JOLIET - On Monday No. 18 Plainfield East visited Joliet West and No. 3 Joliet Catholic hosted Nazareth in a night cap, giving us the chance to double up on a pair of Power 25 teams. Here’s a look at the day and how it all shook out.
No. 18 Plainfield East 10, Joliet West 7
The Plainfield East Bengals have been on a roll lately, moving up to No. 18 in the Illinois Power 25. They continued that trend on Monday with a 10-7 win over Joliet West, improving to 20-2, their 10th straight win.
The Bengals jumped out early and had a commanding 10-1 lead through five innings behind a 4-hit, eight strikeout five innings pitched by senior southpaw Ryan Louck.
The game was on the verge of a slaughter rule when Joliet West scratched one in the fifth to extend the game and rallied for six runs in the sixth to make things really interesting. Five of the six run rally came unearned as the Bengals came slightly unglued defensively, but Joliet’s Mark Garcia lifted a two-run homer in the rally.
Plainfield East’s Daniel Balzhiser closed out the seventh and picked up the save with two strikeouts in the innings. Eadoff hitter and shortstop Dylan Carlson went 3-for-5 with two runs scored and two RBI to lead Plainfield East on offense.
No. 3 Joliet Catholic 5, Nazareth Academy 3
Three miles down the road, the Hilltoppers of Joliet Catholic hosted Nazareth Academy in a heated ESCC matchup on the newly minted turf of Silver Cross Field under the lights. Prior to the game Coach Jared Voss was honored for picking up his 500th win last week as the Hilltoppers now move to 19-3 on the year and sit at No. 3 in the Power Rankings with a 5-3 win over the Roadrunners.
It was a tightly contested contest under the light of Silver Cross, but a four-run fourth inning proved to be the difference for the Hill. Sophomore Christian Knapczyk turned the Roadrunner left fielder in circles for a two-run, bases loaded double to get the rally started.
Greg Ziegler took care of business on the mound, striking out eight over six innings, allowing just one earned run on four hits. Dan Dominguez nailed down the save. Max Cullen put in a three hit day for the Hilltopper offense, driving in and scoring a run.
Related Content